Have you ever heard of "the Fires of Ikthalon", either as a Doctor Strange spell or exclamation? Doc fans and scholars- Neilalien needs your help. Is it in the actual comic book record? If yes, please send along the issue number(s). Because it feels off. Isn't Ikthalon an ice guy/god? From Ikthalon at the Marvel Appendix: "symbolizes stagnation and resistance to change... composed of an ice-like substance and can generate ice and freezing winds... he and his icy creations are immune to flames... from an immensely cold realm that nullifies flames and warmth..." (and that normally-thorough website has probably listed every appearance and invocation of Ikthalon, with no fires; bummer that the Marvel Chronology Project has no Ikthalon list). Nothing at The Lesser Book of the Vishanti. The Icy Tendrils of Ikthalon have trapped a target in ice [Doctor Strange #33]. But who knows?- maybe it's there, the comic book record is both large and not very consistent, or maybe they were cold flames. But it appears that "fires" would be the exact opposite of what Ikthalon is all about, and Neilalien suspects it's not in the comics. If not, then it's incongruous and unfortunate that there is a list of Doctor Strange exclamations out on the eternal internet that includes "the Fires of Ikthalon", apparently doomed to be cut-and-pasted forever: recent Digg thread 10/08, Adventures In Uncinema 3/07, Newsarama Forums 5/06, Marvel Database at Wikia, etc. Hopefully this post will come up on Google searches and spare a future Doc writer doing half-assed web research from a terrible, terrible error...

Doctor Strange fans will want to check out today's New Avengers #46, in which the new demonic Hood's benefactor is finally revealed- it's who many of you have suspected all along- and then tear your shirt in frustration that the enemy will probably be faced not by Doctor Strange, but by whomever Bendis will have as the "replacement Sorcerer Supreme" while he has Doc off fetaling unheroically in self-pity.

In the late '80s, Ditko told me that, when he quit Marvel in the '60s, he didn't turn in two Dr. Strange stories that he'd plotted and penciled. My jaw hit the floor... This was amazing news and I urged (begged) Ditko to bring in the story! He politely declined, saying he didn't want the pages to ever be published or copied. I told him that I'd be happy to look over his shoulder as he flipped through the pages. That way the pages would never leave his hands, but he still declined to bring them in. Since then I've fantasized about what those pages look like and what the story was about. I wonder if I'll ever find out!

You and us all! [[Previous Neilalien bloggings about the two "lost" Doctor Strange stories [April 02008]]

Also: Ditko refused to work on Dr. Strange (and Spider-Man) stories when he returned to Marvel in the '80s.

Praise for comics writer Dwayne McDuffie; blogpost and ensuing comments highlight how Marvel/DC has lost the "if a 12-sided die and Swahili mark your childhood" crowd, "that sense of the fantastic and the magical" [Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic]

M. Night Shyamalan Mulls Unbreakable Sequel [Sci Fi]
Neilalien's a big fan of the film- but for the director who once thought that Unbreakable was taking "so many incredible risks", this sounds like a bad-idea grasp for safety and former glory after a string of bombs.

Most of DC/Marvel's modern mainstream superhero comic book output is losing another fan that it should not be losing [Myriad Issues]
A notoriously bad recent issue of Nightwing, already legend- having been encountered and not as easily avoided as it should have been, due to habit, obligation or nostalgia- becomes tipping point against subpar quality, gratuitous gore and boobies, piecemeal incoherence without every other last crossover/shared universe issue, lack of fun, lack of emphasis on craft or characterization, and lack of return on $2.99 or emotional investment- along with the painfully low standards of the book's defenders online.

DC cancels Minx young adult/teen girl comics line [Comic Book Resources]
"Twenty-two months is a brutally short time in which to nurture a comics imprint" [Comics Reporter]
Not enough sci-fi/adventure/fantasy/horror elements that the young girls are reading nowadays, too much real-world indie-comix angst-quirk [Occasional Superheroine] [Kadymae LJ]
All the cynicism is wrong; staff not experienced enough with young-adult publishing [Comics.212.net]
Only two female creators in the line, neither with comics experience [The Beat]
Kids want trash! [The Hurting]
Great overall postmortem, with many of the above memes, and the covers/branding/art didn't help [Tiredfairy LJ]
Lots more theories, facets, Monday-morning quarterbacking; shelving [The Beat]
Just popped into Neilalien's head on this autumn Sunday: "An alternative to manga" for most young girls is probably like "an alternative to the NFL" for most guys.

I will be spitting venom all over it... If you approach comics as a poor relation to film, you are left with a movie that does not move, has no soundtrack and lacks the benefit of having a recognizable movie star in the lead role.

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